Healing A Community Through Art

Fine Line Group in partnership with Gallery of Dreams launch:

“THE NEW NORMAL: An Artists Response to COVID-19”

Fine Line Group, the Family Office of Sasha and Edward P. Bass, announce the launch of a new initiative to support Fort Worth area artists. THE NEW NORMAL: An Artist’s Response to COVID-19 challenges local visual artists to create works that reflect their experience living through the pandemic as members of the Fort Worth area community.

This innovative program is led by the Fine Line Group and is in partnership with the Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Donny Wiley Memorial Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation, and Kit and Charlie Moncrief. This program is designed to support Fort Worth’s economic and emotional recovery through both service and art. It will culminate in the creation of an important and profound body of work that interprets and documents the uniquely Fort Worth experience, during these uncertain, surreal, and often worrisome times.

Our Mission

Inspiring Fort Worth to stay strong, positive, and always united.

Aiming to jumpstart the creative economy by helping Fort Worth artists get back to work while the galleries, shops, and museums that drive their careers remain closed, “THE NEW NORMAL” grant initiative is the first-of-a-kind in the United States. This highly focused support structure strives to provide positive and unifying social connections within Fort Worth through art and hope. As we all begin to move forward and adjust to a world that looks and feels significantly different than it did just six weeks ago, “THE NEW NORMAL” aims to bring creative experiences and services to others in our community, as well as the artists.

“Throughout history, artists have responded to major catastrophes and provided the world with visual interpretations of a reality that captures and preserves the human experience at the time,” commented Sasha Bass, the initiative’s founder. “Ed and I, along with our partners, are honored to launch this program, which will provide much-needed income to our talented local artists and sustain the creative experiences essential to our communal spirit. Even in this age of social distance, coming together through art is possible. It will be a powerful antidote to the isolation, fear, and uncertainty our community might be experiencing during this time. It is the lens from an artist's eye that can help our community heal.”

Funded by the Fine Line Group, the Family Offices of Sasha and Edward P. Bass, with additional support from The Alice L. Walton Foundation, the Donny Wiley Memorial Fund through the North Texas Community Foundation, and Kit and Charlie Moncrief, “THE NEW NORMAL” will be administered by Gallery of Dreams, a Fort Worth nonprofit arts organization established by Lauren Childs of Fort Works Art.

Applicants were asked to submit a written proposal including a personal statement sharing their views on how this opportunity will help them create, an overview of the COVID-19-related work they intend to create, and an idea on how their art can support others in our city. Examples of the artist’s current work, along with a statement of need demonstrating loss of income due to the COVID-19 crisis, are also required.

Selected Artists